Ritz cinema might not be demolished...
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:51 pmA derelict cinema in Coventry can only be demolished if the developer pays for community facilities, councillors have decided.
Plans to bulldoze the Ritz cinema building in Windmill Road, Longford, to create new flats were granted by Coventry City Council in 2007.
But four years later work has still not started and councillors discussed at a planning meeting whether the development should now be subject to a Section 106 Agreement – which means the developers would have to contribute to certain services for the community as part of the conditions of planning permission.
The vacant cinema building, which is on a triangular plot on the junctions with Dovedale Avenue and Longford Road, is a three-storey structure of classic art deco design.
Developers were originally granted permission to demolish the dilapidated site and construct a building consisting of 18 flats – 12 two-bedroom and six one-bedroom – with vehicle access and parking with 18 spaces.
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That is not the only scheme which was granted permission four years ago but where work has yet to begin. There are two abandoned sites in the Allesley Old Road alone.